Personal text assistant

ABSTRACT

A method and system of generating personalized annotated text of a core-text, the method and system directed for acquiring a personal data comprising data indicative of the reader&#39;s proficiency level for understanding text; and providing at least a gloss to accompany the requested text based on core-text and the reader&#39;s proficiency level.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) ofU.S. Provisional Application 60/890,506 filed Feb. 19, 2007, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to aids for understanding textualmaterial.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today's fast paced global world presents us with textual material thatrelates to a wide variety of subject matter from different places in theworld and often in different languages that can substantially stress ourability to understand the textual material. Also, the global inventoryof textual material is expanding at a rate at which the knowledgerevolution is incrementing the global storehouse of information. Thebreathtaking speed at which knowledge is accruing not only has atendency to overwhelm people, but it can cause a person's personalproficiency in understanding textual material relatively rapidly tobecome obsolete. People of all ages, from childhood to maturity, and inall walks of life, are challenged to continuously learn and update theirpersonal inventory of knowledge and their ability to process textualmaterial in which the knowledge revolution packages its data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method ofautomatic generation of personalized annotated text of a core-text, themethod comprising:

a. acquiring profile data in respect of a user;

b. utilizing a processor for processing the data and determining apersonal profile of the user, and storing the personal profile in a datastorage; the personal profile being indicative of a proficiency level ofthe user in respect of the text;

c. generating a personalized annotated text of the core text based on atleast the personal profile of the user; the annotated text including atleast a gloss of at least a part of the core text; and

d. displaying the annotated text.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a systemfor automatic generation of personalized annotated text of a core-text,the system comprising:

a profile generating engine, being responsive to received profile datain respect of a user and configure to generate a personal profile of theuser based on the profile data; the personal profile being indicative ofa proficiency level of the user;

a data storage configured for storing the personal profile of the user;

an annotation engine configured to generate a personalized annotatedtext of the core text, based on at least the personal profile of theuser, the annotated text including at least a gloss of at least part ofthe core text.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a systemfor automatic generation of personalized annotated text of a core-text,the system comprising:

a profile generating engine, being responsive to received profile datain respect of a user, wherein the profile data includes at least generaldata of the user and world data of the user, and configured to generatea personal profile of the user based on the profile data; the personalprofile being indicative of a proficiency level of the user;

a data storage configured for storing the personal profile of the user;

an annotation engine configured to generate a personalized annotatedtext of the core text, based on at least the personal profile of theuser, the annotated text including at least a gloss of at least part ofthe core text;

a text analyzer configured for analyzing the core text, determiningimportant textual elements and adapting the gloss to comprise of onlyimportant textual elements which are unknown to the user; and

a computer display for displaying the annotated text.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a programstorage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine to perform method steps ofautomatic generation of personalized annotated text of a core-text, themethod comprising:

a. acquiring profile data in respect of a user;

b. utilizing a processor for processing the data and determining apersonal profile of the user, and storing the personal profile in a datastorage; the personal profile being indicative of a proficiency level ofthe user in respect of the text;

c. generating a personalized annotated text of the core text based on atleast the personal profile of the user; the annotated text including atleast a gloss of at least a part of the core text;

d. displaying the annotated text.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided acomputer program product comprising a computer useable medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein of automatic generationof personalized annotated text of a core-text, the computer programproduct comprising:

computer readable program code for causing the computer to acquireprofile data in respect of a user;

computer readable program code for causing the computer to utilize aprocessor for processing the data and determining a personal profile ofthe user, and storing the personal profile in a data storage; thepersonal profile being indicative of a proficiency level of the user inrespect of the text; computer readable program code for causing thecomputer to generate a personalized annotated text of the core textbased on at least the personal profile of the user; the annotated textincluding at least a gloss of at least a part of the core text;

computer readable program code for causing the computer to display theannotated text.

An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to providing agloss to accompany textual material and thereby to providing anannotated text that is configured to aid a reader of the material inunderstanding and using the text. The gloss is produced responsive toattributes of the text and a database that defines a personal profile ofthe reader's proficiency for understanding text. Hereinafter, a text forwhich a gloss is prepared is referred to as a “core text”. An annotatedtext refers to the combination of a core text and an associated gloss.The word “gloss” is used to refer to a single gloss and to a “glossary”comprising a plurality of glosses.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the gloss comprisesmaterial for aiding reader comprehension that may be drawn from anysuitable available resource, such as by way of example, dictionaries,translations, encyclopedias, maps, Baedekers, movies and/or musicalscores, and may comprise not only text but also images and/or playableaudio material. In some embodiments of the invention, the gloss isprovided in margins of pages comprising a core text. Optionally, glossmaterial is interleaved with the core text. In some embodiments of theinvention, a gloss is provided as a text separate from the core text forwhich it provides material.

The annotated text may be presented to a reader in any form suitable forthe reader's use. For example, the annotated text may be presented inprinted form or for display and optional manipulation on a video screencoupled to any suitable controller, processor and/or computer. In someembodiments of the invention, portions of core text corresponding tomaterial in the gloss of an annotated text are highlighted or otherwisemarked so that the reader is aware that the gloss comprises materialrelevant to the highlighted text. Optionally, gloss material for amarked portion of core text of an annotated text presented to the readeron a video screen, for example of a computer, does not appear on thereader's screen unless the reader clicks on, or otherwise singles out,the marked text. In some embodiments of the invention, information in agloss may also be presented subliminally, below a threshold of readerconsciousness. For example, in a computer video presentation of anannotated text, reading comprehension aids, such as definitions, mayrepeatedly be flashed for periods sufficiently short so that they arenot consciously recognized but are subconsciously internalized.

According to an aspect of some embodiments of the invention, the glossis configured to serve as a pedagogic tool for improving the reader'sproficiency in understanding textual material. For example, a glossconfigured for a particular core text may comprise a test that requiresthe reader to remember and/or use material, such as definitions ofwords, explanations of idiomatic constructions, and/or facts provided bythe gloss. A gloss may be configured to teach a reader a foreignlanguage by translating words and phrases in the text to the foreignlanguage and optionally providing quizzes to test and enhance thereader's retention and/or use of the words.

An aspect of some embodiments of the invention, relates to providing apersonal profile of a reader that comprises a measure of at least oneskill and/or aptitude and/or data relevant thereto that characterizesthe reader's proficiency in understanding textual material.

The at least one skill and/or aptitude and/or data relevant theretocomprises at least one of the reader's vocabulary size in a language;syntax understanding in a language; reading speed; subject matterfamiliarity profile; subject matter interest profile; and/or number andidentity of languages that the reader uses.

According to an aspect of some embodiments of the invention, thepersonal profile provides a measure of at least one skill and/oraptitude and/or data relevant thereto characteristic of the reader'scapacity for improving his or her proficiency for understanding text,for example, new language acquisition rate and/or new language retentionrate.

In some embodiments of the invention, data for providing a reader'spersonal profile comprises data acquired actively. Data, hereinafter“active data”, acquired actively, is data that is acquired responsive toa stimulus, such as a questionnaire or test, specifically designed toelicit response from the reader that provides the data. In someembodiments of the invention, acquisition of data for providing a readerprofile comprises data acquired passively. Data, hereinafter “passivedata”, acquired passively is data that is not acquired actively, i.e.data that is not in response to stimuli specifically designed foreliciting the data. Passive data comprises data that may be acquired bymonitoring a reader's behavior when using and responding to textualmaterial. By way of example, passive data may be the reader's readingspeed acquired by recording how long it takes the reader to read a givenlength of text, the readers interest profile acquired by noting relativefrequencies of different types of text the reader chooses to read.Passive data may be data relevant to measuring the reader's retention ofsubject matter presented textually, such as how often the readerreferences different or same parts of a text.

An aspect of some embodiments of the invention, relates to providing acomputer readable storage medium, a memory device, containing aninstruction set for a computer responsive to which the computer may beconfigured to generate a gloss in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. The instruction set comprises instructions for manipulating areader's personal proficiency profile responsive to textual materialcomprised in a core text to provide a gloss for the core text andthereby an annotated text. Optionally, the personal proficiency profileis not stored in the computer but is input to the computer as neededfrom a suitable memory device. The computer generates a gloss for agiven core text and a corresponding annotated text responsive to theprofile when the reader generates an appropriate input to the computerindicating the core text and his or her desire to have the core textaccompanied by a gloss. Optionally, the given core text configured withthe gloss, the annotated text, may be ordered in a suitable formatrequested by the reader from a supplier via the Internet. The annotatedtext may for example, be an annotated online book or article or aprinted book or article. Optionally, the annotated text is printable bya printer connected to the computer.

In some embodiments of the invention, the instruction set comprisesinstructions for generating, maintaining and updating a reader'spersonal proficiency profile and optionally for generating a suitablecomputer interface for communicating and interacting with the reader toperform proficiency profile tasks.

An aspect of some embodiments of the invention, relates to providing asignal set encoded with an instruction set for a computer responsive towhich the computer may be configured to generate an annotated text inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Optionally, the signalset is encoded with instructions for generating, maintaining andupdating a reader's personal proficiency profile and optionally forgenerating a suitable computer interface for communicating andinteracting with the reader to perform proficiency profile tasks.

There is therefore provided in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention, a method of interfacing a requested text with a reader, themethod comprising: acquiring a personal database comprising dataindicative of the reader's proficiency level for understanding text; andproviding a gloss to accompany the requested text responsive to therequested text and the reader's proficiency level data.

Optionally, the proficiency level data comprises a measure of languageproficiency for understanding a language in which the requested text iswritten. Optionally, the measure of language proficiency comprises ameasure of a size of the reader's vocabulary. Additionally oralternatively, the measure of language proficiency comprises a measureof frequency of occurrence of words in the language that the readerrecognizes.

In some embodiments of the invention, the measure of languageproficiency comprises a measure of frequency of occurrence of multi-wordexpressions (MWEs) in the language that the reader recognizes.Optionally, the method comprises generating a frequency list of MWEs foruse in providing the measure of frequency of recognized MWEs, using aclassifier to locate MWEs in at least one text in the language.

In some embodiments of the invention, the measure of languageproficiency comprises a measure of syntactical proficiency. In someembodiments of the invention, the reader's proficiency level datacomprises a measure of reader familiarity with the contents of therequested text.

In some embodiments of the invention, providing the gloss comprisesdetermining whether an instance of a textual component in the requestedtext warrants an explanation, and if so providing the explanation in thegloss. Optionally, the method comprises determining if the instance ofthe textual component warrants explanation responsive to a measure ofimportance of the textual component in the requested text. Optionally,the method comprises determining the measure of importance responsive tofrequency of occurrence of the textual component in the requested text.Additionally or alternatively, the method comprises determining themeasure of importance responsive to frequency of occurrence of thetextual component in a text other than the requested text.

In some embodiments of the invention, providing the gloss comprisescuing the reader to the importance of the textual component. In someembodiments of the invention, the method comprises determining if theinstance of the textual component warrants explanation responsive to alocation of the instance in the text. Optionally, location compriseslocation relative to other instances of the textual component in thetext.

In some embodiments of the invention, the method comprises providinglearning aids for upgrading the reader's proficiency level dataresponsive to the textual component.

In some embodiments of the invention, the textual component is a word.In some embodiments of the invention, the textual component is agrammatical construction.

In some embodiments of the invention, providing the gloss comprisesdetermining whether content of the text warrants enrichment information,and if so, providing such enrichment information. Optionally, the methodcomprises providing learning aids for upgrading the reader's proficiencylevel data responsive to the content.

In some embodiments of the invention, acquiring the database comprisesquerying the reader. Optionally, querying the reader comprises testingthe reader.

In some embodiments of the invention, the method comprises providing areader interface that enables reader input to the gloss. Optionally,reader input comprises requests that the gloss provide specificinformation. Additionally or alternatively, acquiring a databasecomprises generating data responsive to reader input and incorporatingthe data in the database.

In some embodiments of the invention, the method comprises updating thedatabase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Examples illustrative of embodiments of the invention are describedbelow with reference to figures attached hereto by way of non-limitingexample only. In the figures, identical structures, elements or partsthat appear in more than one figure are generally labeled with a samenumeral in all the figures in which they appear. Dimensions ofcomponents and features shown in the figures are generally chosen forconvenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown toscale. The figures are listed below.

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram that illustrates generating a personalizedannotated text, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a page of an annotated text, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram that illustrates generating a personalizedannotated text, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a high-level illustration of the system architecture, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the system architecture, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, the phrase “for example,” “such as” and variants thereofdescribing exemplary implementations of the present invention areexemplary in nature and not limiting. Reference in the specification to“one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “anotherembodiment”, “other embodiments”, “certain embodiment” or variationsthereof means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment(s) is included in at leastone embodiment of the invention. Thus the appearance of the phrase “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “another embodiment”,“other embodiments” or variations thereof do not necessarily refer tothe same embodiment(s). It is appreciated that certain features of theinvention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separateembodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment.Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity,described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be providedseparately or in any suitable sub-combination. While the invention hasbeen shown and described with respect to particular embodiments, it isnot thus limited.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention are not described withreference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciatedthat a variety of programming languages may be used to implement theteachings of the inventions as described herein.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. Generally (although notnecessarily), the nomenclature used herein described below are wellknown and commonly employed in the art. Unless described otherwise,conventional methods are used, such as those provided in the art andvarious general references. Unless specifically stated otherwise, asapparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated thatthroughout the specification discussions, utilizing terms such as,“providing”, “applying “generating”, “processing”, “taking”,“selecting”, “receiving”, tanalyzing”, “evaluating”, “performing”,“executing” or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of anycombination of software, hardware and/or firmware.

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram that illustrates a method 20 of generatingan annotated text for a reader, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. It is assumed that at least one computer is employed toimplement the method. For convenience of presentation, method 20 forproviding a personally annotated text is referred to as “personallyannotated publishing” (PAP) and PAP is used to refer to the methodand/or a system employing the method.

It is assumed that the reader is a first time user of PAP and in block22, PAP, i.e. the at least one computer programmed to implement PAPand/or programs that program the at least one computer, acquires initialdata to generate an initial “startup” personal profile of the reader'sproficiency for understanding textual material. The data acquired by PAPis generally active data that the PAP acquires by presenting suitablequestionnaires, tests and/or forms to the reader. Optionally the activedata acquired comprises conventional personal data such as age, sex,address, educational background. Personal data might also comprisehealth data, for example visual acuity, and information as to anycognitive and/or physical handicaps that the reader may have.

In addition, the active data optionally comprises “proficiency data”, ofparticular relevance to the assessment of reader proficiency.Proficiency data optionally comprises identity of the reader's mothertongue and other languages that the reader uses and optionally a readerself-assessment of his or her proficiency in each of the languages. Forexample, the reader may be requested to rank proficiency in his or herwritten and spoken mother tongue and that of other languages that thereader uses and provide specific indications as to size of active andpassive vocabularies in at least one of the languages. In someembodiments of the invention, the reader may be asked to take at leastone test to acquire active proficiency data. For example, the reader maybe asked to take a reading comprehension test and/or vocabulary test inat least one language. Optionally, the at least one test comprises atest to determine how fast the reader reads and/or reader latency inproperly associating correlated textual information. In some embodimentsof the invention, a frequency list of words for at least one language isused to provide a measure of a reader's proficiency in the language. Afrequency list of words in a language ranks each word in the list by afrequency of its occurrence in the language. The reader is optionallyasked to indicate words in the list that the reader knows and optionallywhich words in the list that the reader does not know. In someembodiments of the invention, the reader is tested to determine whichwords the reader knows and/or doesn't know by challenging the reader fora response to a suitable stimulus and monitoring the response. To anextent that the reader knows words that are associated with smallerfrequencies of occurrence, the reader's proficiency in the language isassumed to be better. Different types of word frequency lists may beused to assess reader proficiency. For example, a frequency list may berestricted to words in a given field of knowledge, such as, medicine,aeronautics, law or archeology. Optionally, the field of knowledge isdetermined by the reader and/or a text that is to be annotated.

Optionally, a plurality of different frequency lists is used to test areader's language proficiency and correlations between test resultsobtained with the different tests are used to determine readerproficiency. For example, if the reader is tested with two frequencylists, and does not indicate knowledge of a same word that appears inboth lists, optionally, PAP determines that the reader does not know theword. Optionally, test results from a plurality of frequency lists areweighted in determining reader proficiency. In some embodiments of theinvention, a test used to acquire proficiency data is configured as acomputer game that the reader plays and the reader's performance atplaying the game provides proficiency data. For example, the reader'sability to respond to textual as well as audio and visual cues duringplay of the game might be used to provide proficiency data. In someembodiments of the invention, a reader is tested to determine a level offamiliarity with multi-word expressions (MWEs). A multi-word expression,an MWE, is a set of words that commonly occur together as a sequence toexpress an idea, concept or object. The sequence generally expresses theidea, concept or object more clearly and/or more satisfyingly than asingle word. The sequence generally corresponds to a “non-compositionalsequence”, for which a reader cannot infer a meaning from the meaningsof the individual words in the sequence. MWEs are relatively frequentlinguistic phenomena and include phrased verbs such as “add-up” and “runinto” nominal compounds such as “telephone-box” and fixed idioms andcolloquial expressions such as “kick the bucket” or “son of a gun”.

Testing for reader understanding of MWEs is optionally done similarly toa way in which word proficiency is tested by using an MWE frequency listin which MWEs are correlated with frequency of their occurrence. Readerproficiency is assessed as better, as recognized MWEs have lowerassociated frequencies.

In an embodiment of the invention, a frequency list of MWEs is generatedby analyzing a text to locate MWEs therein and correlating the locatedMWEs with frequencies of their respective occurrences in the text.Optionally MWEs are located using an “MWE spotting” algorithm inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. In the MWE spottingalgorithm, a text is searched for an MWE by searching the text for astring of letters that represents the MWE. Additionally, for a givenMWE, the text is optionally searched for at least one “inflectedversion” of the MWE in which a word is inflected differently from itsform in the given MWE. Optionally, the at least one inflected versioncomprises a version in which a verb in the given MWE is inflecteddifferently. For example, if the given MWE is “ran into” the text isalso optionally searched for its inflected versions “run into” and/or“running into”. Optionally, the at least one inflected version comprisesall the various inflections of the verb. In some embodiments of theinvention, a text is searched for versions of a given MWE in which wordsin the MWE are separated by non-MWE words and/or the text is searchedfor MWE versions that are not in standard form. For example, a textmight be searched to locate occurrences of a non-standard form of theMWE “kick the bucket”, in which the non-standard form is “kick thebloody bucket”. Optionally, the MWE spotting algorithm uses at least oneclassifier trained to identify a given MWE and versions thereof tolocate occurrences of the MWE and its various versions in a text.

In an embodiment of the invention, the initial data comprises “interestprofile” data, such as data identifying countries the reader hasvisited, subject matter the reader is interested in, and in whatmaterial the reader is interested in increasing his or her knowledge.The reader may also indicate a personal need for remedial tutoring toimprove a deficiency, such as poor vocabulary, reading comprehensionthat he or she feels exists. As in acquiring proficiency data, game playmay be used to assess reader interest patterns.

In an embodiment of the invention, PAP comprises a data-base of standardreader proficiency profiles. The standard profiles are optionally a setof “discrete” profiles, each profile defined by a different set ofrepresentative values for data used by PAP for assessing readerproficiency. Optionally, in a block 24 PAP correlates the initialprofile data it acquires in block 22 for the reader with the standardprofiles to determine which standard profile best fits the initialprofile data. For example, PAP optionally uses a suitable classifier todetermine to which standard profile the initial profile data belongs. Ina block 26, PAP sets an initial personal profile for the reader to be astandard profile to which PAP determines the initial data belongs.

In a block 28, PAP waits to receive a reader request for a gloss andannotated text for a core text and a format in which the reader prefersto receive the annotated text, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Optionally, the reader requests a core text from a library ofcore texts comprised in PAP. In some embodiments of the invention, thereader can provide PAP with a core text for which the reader would likea gloss and an annotated text. The core text may be provided bytransmitting or inputting a copy of the core text to PAP using anysuitable storage medium. For example, the core text may be uploaded toPAP over the Internet and/or transmitted to PAP from a computer readablestorage medium, such as by way of example a CD, floppy disc or flashmemory. Optionally, the core text is transmitted to PAP from a computerlibrary that is not comprised in PAP. Optionally, the text is a printedtext, which is scanned into a computer that provides PAP with thescanned copy.

Optionally, a reader request for an annotated text of a given core textmay include reader preferences that specify features and/orcharacteristics of the gloss comprised in the annotated text. Forexample, the reader request may specify to include or not to includepedagogical and/or remedial aids and/or to suspend providing images formap references. If the annotated text is to be presented on a computervideo screen, the reader may request that audio data, playable by thecomputer, be included in the gloss. He or she may also requestsuspension of subliminal presentation of information in the gloss.

In a decision block 30, PAP determines if such a request has beenreceived. If no request is received, PAP returns to await a request inblock 28. If, on the other hand, a request to annotate a given text isreceived, PAP proceeds to a block 32, creates a gloss for annotating therequested core text, and configures the core text with the gloss togenerate the annotated text.

PAP generates the gloss in block 32 responsive to the reader profileestablished in block 26, reader preferences for the gloss and to therequested core text for which the reader desired the gloss. In anembodiment of the invention, PAP uses the profile, for examplecharacteristics of the reader's vocabulary comprised in the profile, asan indication of which words in the requested core text should bedefined in the gloss. If a word is expected to be outside a vocabularyenvelope of the reader, it is optionally indicated as a candidate fortranslation. Optionally, in determining if a candidate word should betranslated, PAP assesses importance of the candidate word. Any measureof word importance known in the art may be used to determine wordimportance, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Importance may be determined at least in part by frequency with which acandidate word appears in the requested core text. Additionally oralternatively, importance may be determined, at least in part,responsive to a criterion independent of the core text. For example, a“component” of importance of a given candidate word may be determinedresponsive to importance of the candidate word in a language in whichthe core text is requested, or importance in a particular discipline,art and/or field of knowledge. Word importance might be measured byfrequency of occurrence of the word in world literature as determinedfrom Internet resources or by cognates the word has. In some embodimentsof the invention, the reader may indicate that frequency criteria usedto determine word importance should be relaxed or made more stringent.For example, if the reader feels that he or she needs remedial supportfor the language of the core text, the reader may indicate that criteriafor word importance should be relaxed.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the gloss provided byPAP does not provide a translation for every occurrence in the requestedcore text of a word for which PAP decides a translation can beadvantageous. Optionally, the word may be translated as a function ofits location in the core text. For example, frequency of translation maybe relatively high for early portions of the core text and decrease forlater portions. Optionally, translations are presented subliminally ifthe reader specified subliminal presentation.

Various other criteria may be used to determine if, when and how toprovide gloss material for a word. For example, if a word is determinedto be outside the reader's vocabulary envelope, PAP might determine notto provide it with gloss material if the word has a cognate that appearsfrequently in a language well known to the reader that is different fromthe core text language. Determining whether or not to provide glossmaterial may optionally depend on a “personal relationship” of the wordwith the reader. The word may not be glossed, even if outside the readerenvelope, if the word has appeared with high frequency in previousglosses provided to the reader and the reader has not requested glossmaterial for the word, or an abundance of gloss material has previouslybeen provided for the word. In some embodiments of the invention, agloss may be provided for a word determined to be within the reader'senvelope if the word has false cognates, (similar sounding words havingdissimilar meanings) in languages other than the core text language. Inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention, if the reader opted forremedial material, the gloss may include exercises, games and/or testsfor aiding and testing the reader's learning of words for which thegloss provides translations. For example, a gloss in accordance with anembodiment of the invention may provide visual cues to the importance ofa word in the core text and or in a language that the reader is reading.A visual cue optionally comprises a straight line, a “frequency ruler”,in which a full length of the line represents a full length of the coretext and witness lines along the line indicate occurrence of the word atdifferent locations in the text. A frequency ruler for a word, whichappears infrequently or frequently, would be sparsely or denselypopulated respectively with witness lines and indicate to the readerrelative importance of the word and possibly how much attention the wordwarrants.

Whereas the discussion above refers to word vocabulary, practice of theinvention is not limited to providing explanatory material for words butoptionally provides explanatory, pedagogical and/or remedial materialfor any type of content comprised in a requested core text. For example,PAP optionally defines a phrase envelope and/or syntax envelope for thereader and provides explanations and definitions for phrases and/orsyntactical constructions in the requested core text that lie outsidethe envelope or envelopes.

By way of another example, a PAP gloss may provide images such as maps,pictures and/or diagrams to elucidate geographical, artistic and/ortechnical references in a core text. In some embodiments of theinvention, a PAP gloss in an annotated text may comprise playable audiomaterial. If the annotated text is presented on a computer screen, theaudio material may be played by clicking on an icon representing theaudio material with a mouse and/or by suitable operation of a keyboardor an audio interface with the computer. If the annotated text is aprinted text, the audio material may be encoded in a computer readableprinted format, such as by way of example a bar code, which can be inputto a computer for playing using a suitable optical reader.

By way of example, FIG. 2 schematically shows an annotated text 50comprising a gloss 52 corresponding to a core text portion 54, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. By way of example, gloss52 is shown surrounding core text 54 and may be presented differentlyfrom the way it is shown in FIG. 2. Gloss material may be interleavedwith core text material or be hidden until called out by highlighting asuitable icon on a computer screen or keying in a request on a keyboard.Features of text 54 that are associated with material in gloss 52 arevery schematically represented by random letter words and phrases shownshaded and include a word 60, a phrase 62 a geographical reference 64and a musical reference 66.

Gloss 52 comprises by way of example, a dictionary definition 70 of word60 and a frequency ruler 71 for the word, an explanation 72 of phrase 62and a map 74 indicating location of geographical reference 64. Frequencyruler 71 comprises a ruler line 81 whose length schematically representsa full length of a core text that comprises core text portion 54 andwitness lines 82 that indicate where in the core text the word 60appears. From the distribution of witness lines 82 along ruler 81 it isseen that word 60 appears most frequently towards the end of the coretext. Gloss 52 also comprises a bar code 76 encoded with musicassociated with musical reference 66, which when scanned by a suitableoptical reader connected to a computer (not shown) causes the computerto play a piece of music. In addition, the gloss optionally comprises amnemonic multiple-choice test 78 that tests a reader's retention of adefinition of a word provided by the gloss on a different page of thetext.

Reverting to FIG. 1, in a block 33 PAP provides the reader with theannotated text generated in block 32 in any suitable format preferred bythe reader. Optionally, the provided annotated text is a downloadabletext that may be downloaded and read on a video display, such as forexample, a video display of a computer, PDA, mobile phone TV or gamer.Optionally, the text is a printed text that is delivered to the readerby mail or any suitable delivery service.

As noted above, a core text and its gloss material, such as text 50 andit gloss material 52, may be presented differently form the way it ispresented in FIG. 2. In some embodiments of the invention, a reader isable to provide a constraint for configuring presentation of a core textand associated gloss. For example, a reader can determine line spacing,font size and type and fill factors for determining maximum amounts ofspace on a presentation page to be filled by core text and gloss.Optionally PAP comprises a library of presentation formats for specialpurposes such as formats configured for providing annotated textsadapted to compensate for handicaps readers might have. For example, anannotated text in accordance with an embodiment of the invention may beprovided in a relatively large font for sight challenged individuals, orin Braille or as a playable audio file.

In a block 34, following and/or during use of the annotated textprovided by PAP in block 33 PAP acquires reader response data to theannotated text that is useable to update the reader's proficiencyprofile. Optionally, PAP acquires response data to the annotated text byactively querying and/or testing the reader, for example by requestingthe reader to rank at least one of the features and/or characteristicsof the annotated text. For example, a questionnaire may ask if the glossprovided too much material already known to the reader or if too muchmaterial in the core text that is not known to the reader was notprovided with gloss material. Performance of the reader on tests and/orgames comprised in the gloss or provided extrinsic to the gloss andconfigured, for example to test reader comprehension, retention ofpedagogical gloss material and/or familiarity with a given subject maybe recorded to provide reader profile update data.

Optionally, reader response data is acquired passively from observationof reader interaction with the annotated text if the text is read from acomputer video screen. For example, the reader's reading speed may beobtained by timing how long it takes the reader to read a given portionof text. Reader retention may be measured by observing how many timesthe reader refers back to preceding references in the gloss.

In some embodiments of the invention, PAP uses any of various eye motiontracking technologies known in the art to track eye motion of a readerto acquire reader response data.

For example, by tracking eye motion, PAP may determine how frequentlythe reader accesses the gloss and which portions of the gloss the readeraccesses most frequently. PAP may use the eye tracking data to determinewhich word definitions were used more frequently than others and therebyprovide data for updating the user's vocabulary envelope. The eyetracking data may also be used to provide a measure of reader retentionfor gloss material by providing an indication as to how frequently thereader refers to same material in the gloss. Retention data can be usedto update a measure of the ability of the reader to internalize newinformation. Eye tracking may be used to provide a measure of thereader's ability to associate correlated textual and/or visualinformation in the annotated text and thereby data for updating ameasure of the reader's ability in general to associate information.

In a decision block 36, PAP determines if the reader response datawarrants updating the reader's proficiency profile. If not, PAP returnsto block 28 to await the reader's request for another annotated text.If, on the other hand, the data warrants updating the reader profile,PAP proceeds to a block 38, updates the profile, and then proceeds toblock 28. In the description and claims of the application, each of thewords “comprise” “include” and “have”, and forms thereof, are notnecessarily limited to members in a list with which the words may beassociated.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram that illustrates the operations forgenerating a personalized annotated text (otherwise referred to as PAP),in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In other embodiments,there may be more, less and/or different stages than illustrated in FIG.3, and/or stages illustrated as being sequential may be performed inparallel. Typically during the initial stage of the process, a userwishes to read or access any textual content. The user selects and/or oruploads a core-text which he or she wishes to process 304. As notedabove, core-text is a text which is processed and automaticallyannotated according to embodiments of the invention. As described abovewith reference to FIG. 1 core-text may be acquired by any suitablecommunication and/or inputting means. According to some embodiments, auser may commence the process depicted in FIG. 3 without initiallyproviding a core-text and the core-text may be uploaded during laterstages of the process.

In the next stage 306 profile data of the current user is acquired.According to certain embodiments, profile data is acquired and used forconstructing a personal profile of the user, which defines the user'sproficiency for understanding text. According to certain embodiments,profile data may be divided into two main types of information. Thefirst type of information comprises general personal data (referredearlier as “conventional personal data”) and personal information inrespect of the knowledge of the user (referred earlier as “proficiencydata”). The first type of information is typically acquired bypresenting a suitable questionnaire inquiring about the personalinformation of the user and recording the user's answers. As mentionedabove, with reference to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, general data maybe obtained by asking the user to take at least one test. For example,in order to determine the proficiency level of the user in a certainlanguage, the user may be asked to take a comprehension or a vocabularytest. The first type information is assembled, processed and utilized toconstruct the “general profile” of the user. In the following discussionthe term “general data” refers to the first type of information.

The second type of information comprises information regarding theknowledge and comprehension of the user with regard to specific textualelement. It should be noted that the term “textual element” as usedherein refers to a word, a group of words, a phrase, multi-wordexpression, or any other meaningful expression. According to certainembodiments, the second type of information is acquired by initiating avariety of tests and challenges to the user which are directed forevaluating the proficiently level of the user in respect of one or moretextual elements. The second type of information is assembled andutilized to construct a “word profile” of the user. In the followingdiscussion the term “word data” refers to the second type ofinformation.

According to certain embodiments, where a core-text is available, thecore-text is analyzed 310. The analysis of the core-text providesinformation which assists in the construction of both the generalprofile and the word profile. During the analysis, differentcharacteristics of the core-text are determined, for example: thesubject of the core-text, whether it is the first time the user isreading this core-text, the general proficiency level of the user inrespect of the language in the core-text, etc. This information isassembled and stored and used in the following step, for theconstruction and updating of the general profile. Other information isextracted from the core-text and utilized for obtaining word data andfor constructing the word profile in the next stage of the process. Forexample, as mentioned above with reference to FIG. 1, during theanalysis of the core-text, important textual expressions (e.g. words)within the core-text are identified. Method of determining importance oftextual expressions may includes any method known in the art e.g. tf-idf(term frequency-inverse document frequency). According to a certainembodiment, tests for testing the knowledge of the user areautomatically generated such that they are directed for testing theknowledge of the user specifically in respect of important words withinthe core-text.

The following are a number of non-limiting examples of tests and othertools that may be employed in order to assess the proficiency of a userin respect of one or more textual elements.

According to certain embodiments, different questions directed fortesting the vocabulary of the user may be used. A question may berandomly selected from a pool of questions. Alternatively oradditionally, questions may be centered on textual elements which areeither known or unknown to other users with similar personal profiles.Tests may be constructed to include questions on textual elements whichwere unknown to the current user in the past, according to previoustests results. Tests may be constructed to specifically omit questionson textual elements which are known to the current user according toprevious test results. Tests may be constructed with questions directedto specific subjects (e.g. subjects selected by the user or subjectsautomatically selected according to the user's fields of interest).

If the personal profile of the current user already exists, the level ofdifficulty of the tests may be adjusted according to the currentproficiency level of the user, as represented by his or her personalprofile. Alternatively or additionally, test difficulty may be adjustedaccording to the knowledge of other users having a similar generalprofile or/and word profile. Additional types of tests are describedabove with reference to FIG. 1.

In addition or instead of tests, games which are designed for testingthe knowledge of a user may be used. For example, in case a personalprofile of the current user already exists, a user may compete in wordgames against a computer or other users having similar personalprofiles.

According to certain embodiments, the user's actions may be monitoredand used to provide information with regard to the user's knowledge. Forexample, dictionary searches performed by the user may be monitored andfacilitated to learn about the user's knowledge. Other user interactionswhich may also serve to learn about the user's knowledge in respect tospecific textual elements are described above with reference to FIG. 1.

According to certain embodiments, each time the knowledge of the user inrespect of a specific textual element is tested, a knowledge eventoccurs in respect of that textual element. In general each knowledgeevent may result in a positive or a negative result, where a positiveresult (e.g. a correct answer) indicates that the user knows the meaningof the textual element in question, and a negative result (e.g. anincorrect answer) indicates that the user does not know the meaning ofthe textual element in question.

Each textual element which was the subject of a knowledge event isrecorded together with the relevant result. According to certainembodiments, textual elements are stored in a data storage, e.g. in arelational table format, wherein each record represents a textualelement, the knowledge event which took place and the nature of theresult of the knowledge event (e.g. whether it was a positive or anegative result).

In the next stage 310 the profile data is processed and a personalprofile of the user is created. According to certain embodiments, wherethe current user already has a personal profile, the profile data isused for updating the existing personal profile. According to certainembodiments the personal profile is a combination of the general profileand the word profile.

According to certain embodiment, the general data is processed andutilized in order to construct a general profile. The processing of thegeneral data may include creating a profile of the user based on thedata which was obtained in the previous stage 306. For example thegeneral profile may include the following fields: proficiency of theuser in one or more language, educational background, areas of interest,mother tongue, social background, age, etc. According to certainembodiments, once the general profile is constructed the profile iscompared with profiles of other users and is associated in a cluster ofuser-profiles having similar general profiles (i.e. clustering).Clustering is based on the assumption that people with similarcharacteristics (e.g. educational background, social background, age,fields of interest, etc.) are likely to have similar knowledge.Clustering is therefore facilitated by utilizing different statisticalmethods, in order to deduce from the knowledge of a plurality of usersin a cluster about the knowledge of another user. Thus, for example, ifthere is no information regarding the knowledge of the current user inrespect of a certain textual element, and the clustering shows that mostusers in the relevant cluster know that textual element, it is assumedthat the current user also knows that specific textual element.Clustering may also be used, for example, in order to deduce generalproficiency level of a language.

According to certain embodiments, the word data is processed andutilized in order to create a word profile. As explained above, eachtime the knowledge of the user in respect of a specific textual elementis tested, a knowledge event occurs in respect of that textual element.Depending on the knowledge event and the action of the user (e.g.whether the action of the user produced a positive or a negative result)a knowledge event is scored, the score being indicative of the estimatedknowledge of the user in respect of the textual element. For example, afirst knowledge event may be a question in a test on the meaning of theword “tree”. Assuming the user answered the question correctly thecurrent score for the word “tree” is 10%. A second knowledge event is aquestion on the meaning of the word tree which arose during a word gamewhich was played by the user. Again the user answered correctly and nowthe score for the word tree is 30%. The user is recorded searching forthe definition of the word tree in an on-line dictionary (i.e. anadditional knowledge event) and the score for the word tree is updatedto 35%. According to certain embodiments, when a score of a word reachesa certain threshold (e.g. 100%) the user is assumed to know the word.

Each textual element which was the subject of a knowledge event isrecorded together with its score. Each time a user is tested for his orher knowledge in respect of a specific textual element, the score of thetextual element is updated according to the test results. According tocertain embodiments, textual elements which are stored in a datastorage, e.g. in a relational table format, also include the currentscore of the textual element. According to certain embodiments, thetable represents the word profile which is a representation of theuser's vocabulary (see also description above with regard to FIG. 1).

According to certain embodiments, clustering may also be implementedbased on the word profile of the user. Users with similar word profilesare clustered together and the word knowledge of a plurality of users inthe cluster is used in order to deduce information regarding the wordknowledge of the current user. In a similar manner clustering may bebased on the personal profile, using the combination of both the generalprofile and the word profile in order to compare between users, createclusters and deduce information.

Once the personal profile is created (or updated) personalized annotatedtext is generated based on at least the personal profile of the user312. According to certain embodiments, based on the information gatheredin the previous stages (currently represented by the personal profile)it is decided whether a certain textual element is within the knowledgeof the user, and accordingly whether to present the relevant definitionin the annotated text. According to certain embodiments, it is alsodetermined how well the user knows a certain language (i.e. theproficiency level of the language), and accordingly the annotation isadapted to match the knowledge of the user. For example, words inEnglish, which are assumed to be unknown to the user, are defined andannotated using terms and expressions which match the generalproficiency level in English of the user. According to certainembodiments, the proficiency level of the language of the user isdetermined according to the word knowledge as manifested by the wordprofile and according to the general profile. For example, theproficiency level of English of a user can be determined based on thefollowing combination of data: the vocabulary of the user as recorded inthe word profile, the declared level of English as recorded in thegeneral profile and the clustering results of the personal profile withpersonal profiles of other users.

According to certain embodiments, the decision whether to translate ordefine a certain textual expression is made based on the now availablepersonal profile of the user. According to one embodiment, the decisionis made based on the word profile of the user. According to anotherembodiment, the decision is made based on the general profile of theuser, and according to yet another embodiment, the decision is madebased on both the general and word profiles of the user (i.e. thepersonal profile).

As explained above, the word profile provides information regarding theknowledge of the user in respect of specific textual expressions and mayalso be used to learn in general about the vocabulary of the user.Textual expressions in the word profile are associated with a scorewhich indicates the knowledge of the user in respect of each textualexpression in the word profile. According to certain embodiments, thedecision whether to provide the definition or translation of a certaintextual expression is based, inter alia, on the score associated withthat textual expression. If the score is below a predefined threshold itis assumed that the user does not know the meaning of the textualexpression associated with the score and accordingly the definition ofthe word should be presented to the user.

In addition or instead of the previous parameter, word profile andgeneral profile allows comparing between different users (i.e.clustering) and deducing about the word knowledge of one user from theword knowledge of other users with similar word profiles. Thus, if noindication is available with regard to the knowledge of a user inrespect to a specific textual element, the decision of whether topresent a definition (or translation) of the textual element in theannotated text may be based on clustering. As mentioned above,clustering may be also based on the personal profile.

According to certain embodiments, in addition to the personal profilethe decision of whether to present the definition (or translation) of atextual element to the user is based on the information obtained fromthe text analysis of the core-text. In the event that no core-text waspreviously uploaded, at this stage a core-text must be available inorder to be annotated 318.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1 text analysis includes,inter alia, identifying important textual expressions (e.g. words) inthe core text. According to certain embodiments, as a rule, annotatedtext includes annotation of important textual expressions. However,according to certain embodiments, if the personal profile of a userindicates that a user knows the meaning of an important textualexpression, the textual expression, although determined as importantduring the text analysis, will not be annotated.

According to certain embodiments, text analysis provides additionalinformation such as the subject of the core text or whether thisspecific core-text has already been read by a certain user. Suchinformation together with the personal profile may also contribute tomaking the decision as to whether to present the definition (ortranslation) of a textual element to a user. The following exampleillustrates the value of text analysis in making the above decision. Afirst user that, according to his general profile, has a PhD inpsychology, and is reading a text related to computer science (e.g. asrealized from text analysis), is assumed to have less word knowledge,compared to a second user who is reading the same text, but whosegeneral profile indicates that his educational background includes a PhDin computer science. Therefore, according to the thus far providedinformation, the first user will be provided with annotation of simplertextual elements, compared to the second user. On the other hand, if thegeneral profile of the first user indicates that one of his fields ofinterest is computer science, and that he has repeatedly read computerscience related material, it may be assumed that his knowledge issimilar to the second user, and therefore his or her annotation will besimilar as well.

In the last stage the personal annotated text (PAP) is displayed to theuser 314 e.g. on a computer screen. According to certain embodiments, inthis stage the format for presenting the annotated text is determined.For example, the position of the annotated text in respect of thetextual elements which is being defined or translated is determined(e.g. is the definition positioned on the left side, right side orbottom of the core-text).

Attention is now drawn to FIG. 4, showing a high-level illustration ofthe architecture of a system 400, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention, for carrying out the above described method of automaticgeneration of personalized annotated text of a core-text. According tocertain examples, system 410 (which represents a subsection of system400 and comprise of the main processing units) includes a profilegenerating engine 420 and an annotation engine 430, and is associatedwith database maintained in appropriate data storage utility 440. Thesystem may be configured in a single computer or otherwise distributedbetween multiple computers. The profile generating engine 420 isconfigured to be responsive to received profile data in respect of auser and to generate a personal profile of the user based on thereceived profile data. The personal profile is indicative of aproficiency level of the user, and is stored in the database. Theannotation engine 430 is configured to generate a personalized annotatedtext of the core text, based on the personal profile of the user andpossibly some additional data as described above. The annotated textgenerated by annotation engine 430 includes at least a gloss of a partof the core text or the entire core text.

System 410 is illustrated in the example of FIG. 4 in the context of anetwork 460. Network 460 may be any appropriate computer network forexample: the Internet, a local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN) or a combination thereof. Theconnection to the network may be realized through any suitableconnection or communication utility. The connection may be implementedby hardwire or wireless communication means via a client-servercommunication session. As illustrated in FIG. 4, one or more clients450, are connected via network 460 to system 410 In other embodiments,system 410 may be fully or partially accessed outside of a context of anetwork, for example with any of client(s) 450, being directly coupledto system 410, for example via a universal serial bus (USB) connection.

Clients 450 may be, but are not limited to, personal computers, portablecomputers, PDAs, cellular phones or the like. Each client 450 mayinclude a user interface and possibly an application for sending andreceiving web pages, such as a web browser application or web API, whichmay be utilized, for communicating with system 410.

According to certain embodiments, profile generating engine 420 isconfigured for receiving general data and word data in respect of user,processing the data and based on the received data, creating a personalprofile of the user. The personal profile of the user is stored in datastorage 440. According to certain embodiments, where a personal profileof a user already exists in database 440, profile generating engine isconfigured 420 to process user's general data and word data and toupdate the existing personal profile accordingly. According to certainembodiments, profile generating engine 420 is further configured forreceiving and analyzing a core-text. As mentioned above with referenceto FIG. 1 core-text may be provided by any suitable input means (e.g.transmitted via a network, retrieved from a computer storage medium,etc.). Core-text is stored in a data storage associated with the system440.

According to certain embodiments, annotation engine 430 is configuredfor generating a personalized annotated text of a core-text, based on atleast the personal profile of the user. The annotation engine isconfigured to process the available information of the personal profileof the user and provide the user with annotations on the core-text.According to certain embodiments annotations include definitions and/ortranslations of textual elements in the core text (i.e. gloss). Theannotations are specifically adapted to the knowledge of each specificuser.

According to certain embodiments, after being generated, the personalannotated text is displayed to the user. As mentioned above, thepersonal annotated text may be displayed by any display means associatedwith the client 450 (e.g. computer display, PDA, cell phone etc.).According to one embodiment, the annotated text is displayed to the userafter it has been printed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the system architecture, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention, for carrying out theabove described method of automatic generation of personalized annotatedtext of a core-text. As shown in FIG. 5 profile generating engine 420may comprise a general profile generating module 510, a word profilegenerating module 520, and a text analyzer 530.

According to certain embodiments, general profile generating module 510is configured for generating and/or updating the general profile of auser. General data is received by system 410 from the user andtransmitted to the general profile generating module 510 which in turnprocess the data and creates the general profile of the user. Accordingto certain embodiments, word profile generating engine 520 is configuredfor generating and/or updating the word profile of a user. Word data isreceived by system 410 and transmitted to the word data generatingmodule 520 which in turn process the word data and creates the wordprofile of the user. According to certain embodiments, the operationsdescribed above with reference to stages 306 and 310 in FIG. 3 arepreformed by the general profile generating module 510 and the wordprofile generating module 520. According to certain embodiments, system410 comprises a test generator 525, which is configured for generatingtests directed for testing the knowledge of a user and acquiring worddata and general data utilized for the construction of the word profileand general profile of the user. In the event that the current user isnot a new user and a personal profile of the current user already exists(e.g. stored in data storage 440) the test generator 525 may createtests based on the information which is recorded in the user's personalprofile which is stored in the system data storage 440. According tocertain embodiments, the profile generating engine 420 comprises a textanalyzer 530 configured for analyzing the core-text and utilizing theinformation for creating and updating the general profile and the wordprofile of the user. Once the core-text is analyzed the test generatormay generate tests which are based on the content of the core-text. Forexample, the test generator 525 may generate questions directed fortesting the knowledge of the user in respect of textual elements whichare found in the core-text and thereby improve the generation of theword profile. Information which is obtained by the text analyzer 530also assists in the generation of the personalized annotated text asspecified above with reference to FIG. 3.

According to certain embodiments, an annotation engine 430 is configuredfor generating a personalized annotated text (previously referred to asPAP). The operations of the annotation engine include at least insertingannotations into the core-text, wherein the annotation are adapted tothe personal profile of each user. The annotation engines 430 takes intoconsideration the information in respect of the user, now available fromthe personal profile and information with regard to the core-text andgenerates a personalized annotated text as described above withreference to FIG. 3. Core-text may be acquired directly from the uservia a client 450. Alternatively or additionally core-text may beacquired from any other repository 465 directly or indirectly connectedto system 410.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, the division of the systeminto the specific components as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, may bedifferent, and some or all of the components may be separated into aplurality of components or otherwise combined with any othercomponent(s). In some embodiments, the system includes less, more and/ordifferent modules than shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. In other embodimentsof the invention any component of the system may provide lessfunctionality, more functionality and/or different functionality thanthe functionality provided by the modules illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG.5. According to different embodiments, each of the modules of the systemmay be made up of different combinations of software, hardware and/orfirmware capable of performing the functions described and definedherein

The invention has been described using various detailed descriptions ofembodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention. The described embodimentsmay comprise different features, not all of which are required in allembodiments of the invention. Some embodiments of the invention utilizeonly some of the features or possible combinations of the features.Variations of embodiments of the invention that are described andembodiments of the invention comprising different combinations offeatures noted in the described embodiments will occur to persons withskill in the art. It is intended that the scope of the invention belimited only by the claims and that the claims be interpreted to includeall such variations and combinations.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of automatic generation ofpersonalized annotated text, of a core-text, the method comprising: a.acquiring profile data in respect of a user; b. utilizing a processorconfigured to process said data and generate a personal profile of saiduser; said personal profile being indicative of a proficiency level ofsaid user in respect of said text, and the proficiency level beingindicative of knowledge of the user with respect to a meaning of one ormore word-elements; the generation of the personal profile includesusing one or more frequency lists configured to assess the proficiencylevel of the user; and c. generating a personalized annotated text ofsaid core text based on at least said personal profile of said user;said annotated text including at least a gloss of at least a part ofsaid core text; the generation of the personalized annotated textincludes using information with respect to the one or more frequencyLists in the personal profile to determine which of the one or moreword-elements in the core text are to be annotated in the personalizedannotated text.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performingone or more tests for obtaining the proficiency level, the testsincluding at least one test which is not based on spoken responsesuttered by the user.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:analyzing said core text and generating said tests based on said coretext.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining a personalprofile of said user in (c) includes at least the following: i. testingknowledge of said user in respect of one or more textual elements, andassociating a score to each of said one or more textual elements, saidscore being indicative of the user's knowledge in respect of said one ormore textual elements.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said generatinga personalized annotated text of said core text based on at least saidpersonal profile of said user in (d) comprises: determining the user'sproficiency level in respect of said core text and adapting saidpersonalized annotation to said proficiency level.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said generating a personalized annotated text in (d)further comprises analyzing said core text, determining importanttextual elements and adapting said gloss to include annotations withrespect to important textual elements which are unknown to said user. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more word-elements include atleast one word element which has more than one meaning.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the core-text is in a first language andthe personalized annotated text comprises a translation of at least oneword element in said core-text to a corresponding word in at least oneother language.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein thegeneration of the personalized annotated text further includes:determining which of the word-elements in the core text should beannotated in the personalized annotated text based on informationindicative whether any one of the word-elements in the core text hasappeared repeatedly in previous glosses provided to the user.
 10. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the generation of the personalizedannotated text further includes: determining which of the word-elementsin the core text should be annotated in the personalized annotated textusing information indicative whether any one of the word-elements hascognate words that appears in a language well known to the user.
 11. Asystem for automatic generation of personalized annotated text, of acore-text, the system comprising: a profile generating engineoperatively connected to at least one processor, being responsive toreceived profile data in respect of a user and configured to generate apersonal profile of said user based on said profile data; said personalprofile being indicative of a proficiency level of the user, theproficiency level being indicative of knowledge of the user with respectto a meaning of one or more word-elements; the generating of thepersonal profile includes using one or more frequency lists configuredto assess the proficiency level of the user; a data storage configuredfor storing said personal profile of said user; an annotation engineconfigured to generate a personalized annotated text of said core text,based on at least said personal profile of said user, said annotatedtext including at least a gloss of at least part of said core text; thegenerating of the personalized annotated text includes using informationwith respect to the one or more frequency lists in the personal profileto determine which of the word-elements in the core text should beannotated in the personalized annotated text.
 12. The system of claim11, further comprising a computer display for displaying said annotatedtext.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein said profile data includes atleast general data of said user and world data of said user.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, further comprising: a test generating engineconfigured to generate one or more tests directed to obtain theproficiency level, the tests including at least one test which is notbased on spoken responses uttered by the user.
 15. The system of claim14, further comprising: a text analyzer configured to analyze said coretext, wherein said one or more tests are generated based on said coretext.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein said profile generating engineis configured to perform at least the following: a. testing theknowledge of said user in respect of one or more textual elements, andassociating a score to each of said one or more textual elements, saidscore being indicative of the user's knowledge in respect of said one ormore textual elements.
 17. The system of claim 11, further comprising: atext analyzer configured to analyze said core text, determiningimportant textual elements and adapting said gloss to includeannotations with respect to important textual elements which are unknownto said user.
 18. The system according to claim 11, wherein thegeneration of the personalized annotated text further includes:determining which of the word element in the core text should beannotated in the personalized annotated text using informationindicative whether any one of the word-elements has cognate words thatappears in a language well known to the user.
 19. A program storagedevice readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructionsexecutable by the machine to perform method steps of automaticgeneration of personalized annotated text of a core-text, the methodcomprising: a. acquiring profile data in respect of a user; b. utilizinga processor configured to process said data and determine a personalprofile of said user, said personal profile being indicative of aproficiency level of said user in respect of said text, the proficiencylevel being indicative of knowledge of the user with respect to ameaning of one or more word-elements; the generation of the personalprofile including using one or more frequency lists to assess theproficiency of the user; and c. generating a personalized annotated textof said core text based on at least said personal profile of said user;said annotated text including at least a gloss of at least a part ofsaid core text; the generation of the personalized annotated textincluding using information with respect to the one or more frequencylists in the personal profile to determine which of the word-elements inthe core text should be annotated in the personalized annotated text.20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computeruseable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein ofautomatic generation of personalized annotated text of a core-text, thecomputer program product comprising: computer readable program codeconfigured to cause the computer to acquire profile data in respect of auser; computer readable program code configured to cause the computer toutilize a processor to process said data and determine a personalprofile of said user, said personal profile being indicative of aproficiency level of said user in respect of said text, the proficiencylevel being indicative of knowledge of the user with respect to ameaning of one or more word-elements; the generation of the personalprofile including using one or more frequency lists to assess theproficiency of the user; computer readable program code configured tocause the computer to generate a personalized annotated text of saidcore text based on at least said personal profile of said user; saidannotated text including at least a gloss of at least a part of saidcore text; the generation of the personalized annotated text includingusing information with respect to the one or more frequency lists in thepersonal profile to determine which of the word-elements in the coretext should be annotated in the personalized annotated text.